Food Safety (FS)
What is Food Safety?
Food Safety – are all the measures taken to protect human health from harm arising from the consumption of food.
The assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use. (Codex Alimentarius)
Food Safety encompasses all corrective and preventive methods that can be applied to protect consumers from any harm arising during handling, preparation, processing, storage, distribution and consumption of food. It is the control and prevention of unintentional contamination that can involve: Physical Hazards- bits of soil/dirt, plastic, glass, metal and inedible plant or animal parts (hair, nails, and bone fragments);
Chemical Hazards– naturally occurring toxins, process developed contaminants (i.e. monochloropropanediol (MCPD) in soy sauce or seasoning, acrylamide in potato chips and fries, nitrosamines in cured meats, etc.), substances derived from the environment (toxic pollutants, radioactive materials) or from cleaning & maintenance operations (detergents, sanitizers, lubricants, paint, etc.); and
Microbiological Pathogens –bacteria, viruses, moulds, protozoa and parasites, and/or their toxins
What can we get from FS?
As our diet and food supply becomes highly varied and complicated by different sources for raw materials, ingredients, processing/preparation methods and packaging materials, they provide a lot of opportunities for the occurrence of contamination and hazards. These can cause food borne illnesses, injuries or even death if no control or preventive measures are put into place. Food Safety provides an assurance that the food produced or served by a diligent food business operator (whether a manufacturer, food service provider, trader or vendor) would not cause any disease or injury to consumers and, is guaranteed to have proven, consistent safety and quality.
Food Safety is the right of everyone and is a shared responsibility among concerned stakeholders along the food supply chain in its development and implementation. These include the government, academe, industry and consumers.
Who may apply?
MSMEs, whose operations are located within the National Capital Region and are engaged in the manufacture of food products, food service, and marketing and trading are encouraged to avail of the services under the program. Those within the jurisdiction of other regional offices will be initially entertained but subsequently referred to the appropriate regional office as all DOST Regional Offices provide similar programs and services in their respective territories.
What are the requirements?
A letter of request addressed to the Regional Director expressing interest in availing of technical consultancy services provided under the program should be submitted.
How to apply?
A letter request may be sent through fax, e-mail or courier services, or personally visit the DOST-NCR offices for a walk-in consultation. Specialized Inquiries and specific requirements are referred to appropriate technical resource person within the regional office or other DOST agencies.
Interested customer/s may send a letter of interest to avail of the SETUP assistance together with the requirements to:
ROMELEN T. TRESVALLES
Regional Director
Department of Science and Technology-National Capital Region
DOST Compound, General Santos Avenue,
Bicutan, Taguig City
Implementing System
The DOST-NCR Food Safety Team provides technical consultancy services providing advice and recommendations for solutions to food safety issues encountered whether process or product related. It also conducts food safety assessment, which evaluates the current conditions of facilities and practices of MSMEs based on Food Safety Principles, current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and according to the following protocol